Readings for Tuesday January 8[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 1 John 4:7-10
This wonderful selection from St. John’s first letter is a summary of the Apostle’s major contribution to our understanding of God as revealed through his only Son. The exhortation to love one another is repeated frequently throughout the author’s Gospel and his letters. The idea that “God is love” is central to our understanding of God and Christ. In this short passage we see not only a glimpse of God’s intent in sending Jesus to the world as a proof of his love for us through “…the expiation of our sins” but our own imperative as Christians to love one another in imitation of him.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Psalm 72 is one of the Royal Psalms. In this selection we hear an echo of the justice and peace of the King’s rule that is central in Isaiah’s prophecy Isaiah 11:1-10 . It is sung by the king who prays to God for wisdom that he might be seen as dealing justly with the people and compassionately with the poor. He concludes this selection asking for God’s blessing for himself and all the people he governs. We see this psalm as a song extolling the generous and compassionate rule of the Messiah.
Gospel Mark 6:34-44
The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle of Jesus that is presented in all four gospels. The reason for that may be that it was seen as anticipating the Eucharist and the final banquet in the kingdom (Matthew 8:11; 26:29), but it looks not only forward but backward, to the feeding of Israel with manna in the desert at the time of the Exodus (Exodus 16), a miracle that in some Jewish expectation would be repeated in the messianic age (2 Baruch 29:8). It may also be meant to recall Elisha's feeding a hundred men with small provisions (2 Kings 4:42-44).
We note the numeric symbolism used in St. Mark’s account; the five loaves and two fish combined to give seven – the most complete number, and the fragments collected at the conclusion of the meal fill twelve baskets, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Gospel author’s audience which was predominately Jewish would have seen the story as a fulfillment of the historical tradition from which they came.
Reflection:
Those blessed with an abundance of faith are at a disadvantage when events like the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” are presented. They see the symbols presented; the fish representing the Greek word “Icthos” used as a password for Christian because the first two letters were the initials of Jesus the Christ. Those who have unwavering faith see instantly the Eucharist represented in the bread and how the Lord gives not just food to those thousands but gives himself. The are disadvantaged because the miracle may have lost some of its awe in their eyes.
Those who have no faith whatsoever are much worse off. They see this event as some sort of magic trick or they think there is a logical explanation or even worse, they believe it is a fabrication, a lie perpetrated by the Gospel authors to support the Jesus story.
Somewhere in between a majority of us find ourselves. We are confronted with a story that requires us to accept that the Lord God can step outside our normal experience and do things that we cannot comprehend. We don’t like to admit it when we run into situations that are just totally beyond us. Yet here, recounted in all four Gospels, (and not just once in each of the four but twice in Matthew and Luke) is a story that tests our faith in God’s extraordinary ability to respond to his creation through his Son.
Offsetting this miracle is what many of us might find an even greater revelation. The purpose behind this massive proof of God’s existence and power is a simple demonstration of His love for us. We see this fact expressed by St. John the Apostle who distills the events down to their most fundamental level. Did the Lord feed the five thousand to prove his heritage or that God had sent him? Did he tell the multitudes in that place “Oh, just so you know I am the Messiah, I will now cause these five loaves of bread and two fish to multiply themselves so you can all have a nice meal”?
No, Christ came from God who is love, as the ultimate symbol of love. He came because up to that point, the Hebrews, to whom God first made his presence known, had come to understand the Father as a God of justice, one of vengeance, attributed with the all too human need for retribution and violence. Christ came to change that misguided impression. He came out of God’s passionate love for his adopted children. He sent his Son so that the choices made by mankind could be revised and through Jesus, offered as a sacrifice of atonement, we might have access to our loving Father.
However we see the story of the “Feeding of the Five Thousand”; whether we accept it without question or whether we struggle with our human logic, we must see it as one more symbol of God’s love for us. The imperative is that, for that love to be most beneficial to us, it must be shared. The Lord showed us that example in the loaves and fishes as well.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes” by Lambert Lombard, 1505-66
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 1 John 4:7-10
This wonderful selection from St. John’s first letter is a summary of the Apostle’s major contribution to our understanding of God as revealed through his only Son. The exhortation to love one another is repeated frequently throughout the author’s Gospel and his letters. The idea that “God is love” is central to our understanding of God and Christ. In this short passage we see not only a glimpse of God’s intent in sending Jesus to the world as a proof of his love for us through “…the expiation of our sins” but our own imperative as Christians to love one another in imitation of him.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Psalm 72 is one of the Royal Psalms. In this selection we hear an echo of the justice and peace of the King’s rule that is central in Isaiah’s prophecy Isaiah 11:1-10 . It is sung by the king who prays to God for wisdom that he might be seen as dealing justly with the people and compassionately with the poor. He concludes this selection asking for God’s blessing for himself and all the people he governs. We see this psalm as a song extolling the generous and compassionate rule of the Messiah.
Gospel Mark 6:34-44
The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle of Jesus that is presented in all four gospels. The reason for that may be that it was seen as anticipating the Eucharist and the final banquet in the kingdom (Matthew 8:11; 26:29), but it looks not only forward but backward, to the feeding of Israel with manna in the desert at the time of the Exodus (Exodus 16), a miracle that in some Jewish expectation would be repeated in the messianic age (2 Baruch 29:8). It may also be meant to recall Elisha's feeding a hundred men with small provisions (2 Kings 4:42-44).
We note the numeric symbolism used in St. Mark’s account; the five loaves and two fish combined to give seven – the most complete number, and the fragments collected at the conclusion of the meal fill twelve baskets, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Gospel author’s audience which was predominately Jewish would have seen the story as a fulfillment of the historical tradition from which they came.
Reflection:
Those blessed with an abundance of faith are at a disadvantage when events like the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” are presented. They see the symbols presented; the fish representing the Greek word “Icthos” used as a password for Christian because the first two letters were the initials of Jesus the Christ. Those who have unwavering faith see instantly the Eucharist represented in the bread and how the Lord gives not just food to those thousands but gives himself. The are disadvantaged because the miracle may have lost some of its awe in their eyes.
Those who have no faith whatsoever are much worse off. They see this event as some sort of magic trick or they think there is a logical explanation or even worse, they believe it is a fabrication, a lie perpetrated by the Gospel authors to support the Jesus story.
Somewhere in between a majority of us find ourselves. We are confronted with a story that requires us to accept that the Lord God can step outside our normal experience and do things that we cannot comprehend. We don’t like to admit it when we run into situations that are just totally beyond us. Yet here, recounted in all four Gospels, (and not just once in each of the four but twice in Matthew and Luke) is a story that tests our faith in God’s extraordinary ability to respond to his creation through his Son.
Offsetting this miracle is what many of us might find an even greater revelation. The purpose behind this massive proof of God’s existence and power is a simple demonstration of His love for us. We see this fact expressed by St. John the Apostle who distills the events down to their most fundamental level. Did the Lord feed the five thousand to prove his heritage or that God had sent him? Did he tell the multitudes in that place “Oh, just so you know I am the Messiah, I will now cause these five loaves of bread and two fish to multiply themselves so you can all have a nice meal”?
No, Christ came from God who is love, as the ultimate symbol of love. He came because up to that point, the Hebrews, to whom God first made his presence known, had come to understand the Father as a God of justice, one of vengeance, attributed with the all too human need for retribution and violence. Christ came to change that misguided impression. He came out of God’s passionate love for his adopted children. He sent his Son so that the choices made by mankind could be revised and through Jesus, offered as a sacrifice of atonement, we might have access to our loving Father.
However we see the story of the “Feeding of the Five Thousand”; whether we accept it without question or whether we struggle with our human logic, we must see it as one more symbol of God’s love for us. The imperative is that, for that love to be most beneficial to us, it must be shared. The Lord showed us that example in the loaves and fishes as well.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes” by Lambert Lombard, 1505-66
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